FR3002622B1 - CENTER FOR THE TREATMENT OF SMOKE FROM A BURNING OVEN OF ANODES - Google Patents

Abstract

The flue gas treatment center (1) from an oven (30) for baking anodes used in electrolysis cells for the production of aluminum, in which pollutants are removed from the flue gases by capturing them on at least an adsorbent (17, 19, 27) which is then retained by filtration, the whole of the fumes passes through at least one same reactor (4, 25) in which at least one adsorbent (17, 19, 27) is injected followed by a set of filtration units (7, 28) traversed in parallel by the fumes to capture the adsorbent charged with polluting elements.

Description

The invention relates to the field of firing carbonaceous blocks intended for electrometallurgy, and more particularly to the firing of carbon anodes intended for the production by electrolysis of carbon dioxide. 'aluminum. It relates more specifically to a flue gas treatment center, hereinafter called CTF, for purifying cooking fumes from a cooking oven, hereinafter referred to as FAC, said carbon blocks.

The treatment of fumes from anode firing furnaces by dry scrubber with alumina injection was developed in the early 80s. This process was largely inspired by alumina injection scrubbers treating the gases of electrolysis tanks that had commissioned in the early 1970s. The main difference for FCC's FGC is the use of a cooling tower to cool fumes with water spray to condense tars and protect the filter media. As for the tank gas treatment centers (CTG), the alumina scrubber consists of a series of "reactor-filter" modules placed in parallel, each receiving a part of the gases to be treated, allowing a continuous operation and the flue gas treatment with a module shut down for maintenance. The process has changed little over the past 25 years.

However, the treatment of fumes from cooking ovens is very different from the treatment of gases in the electrolysis tanks. So : ; the flue gas flow rate to be treated is 8 to 10 times smaller than the flow rate of an electrolysis cell gas treatment center, which leads to the use of small reactor-filter modules, which appear to be relatively expensive investment; The fluorine gas concentration in the fumes of modern furnaces is 5 to 10 times lower than the fluorine concentration of the electrolysis gases; the uptake of HF and the obtaining of low fluoride discharges is thus rather easy to obtain on fumes coming from a FAC; • unlike tank gases, there is no risk of "scales" or crusts (aggregates of alumina and carbon) in the reactors or in the filters; these "scales" require stops for cleaning; moreover, on a CTF, the charged alumina (alumina charged with tars, carbon and fluorine) is very abrasive and it is necessary to protect the areas of turbulence and overspeed.

The current realization of the smoke treatment centers of anode baking furnaces, described in particular by FR2917818, is not fully satisfactory for the following reasons: • the installation is very expensive due to the use of small reactors ; • The handling of alumina is complicated, to allow to feed each reactor while allowing the shutdown of any filter for maintenance, compared to the fluorine concentration to be captured. The many vents and falls are all points subject to abrasion that require maintenance; • the maintenance operation on a reactor leads to a large variation in speed in the reactors because of the small number of modules of each installation: from 3 to 6 modules; thus, the increase in speed in the reactors in service resulting from the shutdown of a reactor causes abrasion problems; this problem is less on a CTG because of the larger number of reactors, from 10 to 18; • a long duct is necessary to convey the fumes to be treated between the cooling tower and the reactors. This pipe is particularly sensitive to deposits and corrosion due to a low temperature of the fumes and the absence of alumina therein; The maintenance of a balanced flow of fumes between the reactors is in practice difficult to achieve because of a different level of clogging of the filter fabric and / or the durations of the sleeves of the different filters depending on the sequence of change sleeves.

To overcome these drawbacks, the invention consists of a smoke treatment center from a furnace to bake anodes used in electrolysis cells for the production of aluminum, in which pollutants are removed from the flue gases. trapping them on at least one adsorbent which is then retained by filtration, characterized in that all the flue gas passes through at least one same reactor in which at least one adsorbent is injected followed by a set of filtration units traversed in parallel by fumes to capture adsorbent loaded pollutants.

Thus, the invention consists in replacing the numerous small "reactor-filter" modules inherited from the original development copied from the CTGs (gas treatment center) by at least one large-capacity common reactor traversed by all the flue gases, twinned to a set of filtration units crossed in parallel by the fumes and equipped with modern bag filters multi-compartments, which keeps the ability to operate with an isolated compartment for maintenance. The flow rate of fumes to be treated on a FAC allows the use of a single large reactor that keeps optimal dimensions for the mixture of fumes and alumina. The common reactor does not require any intervention because of the lack of formation of "scales". An annual inspection, during the CTF bypass, is sufficient and thus does not reduce the availability of the facility to treat the fumes. The adsorbent used to capture pollutants can be in particular alumina, activated carbon, coke, calcium carbonate CaCO3 or hydrated lime. To capture HF, we can for example use alumina, CaCO3 or hydrated lime. To capture SO2, we can use alumina, hydrated lime or CaCO3. To capture tar, we can for example use alumina or coke.

According to the invention, at the outlet of a first reactor, all the fumes pass through filtration units placed in parallel for the capture of the adsorbent injected into the said first reactor, then a second reactor and finally the capture devices placed. in parallel for the capture of the adsorbent injected into the second reactor. The adsorbent used in the second reactor may be a liquid, a solid or a gas.

According to an example of operation of the flue gas treatment center according to the invention, the adsorbent used in the first reactor is alumina and the adsorbent used in the second reactor is activated carbon, coke, CaCO 3 or hydrated lime.

A filtration unit is advantageously constituted by multi-compartment bag filters and can be isolated for its maintenance. Depending on the capacity of the facility, the CTF includes 2, 3, 4 or more parallel filtration units. The flow of gas to be treated is thus distributed between these units. Isolation devices are placed upstream and downstream of the filtration units so as to isolate one for its maintenance without interrupting the operation of the installation. During this maintenance phase, the flow of gas to be treated is distributed in the other filtration units in use.

The main features of this innovative solution are: • One or two common reactor (s) of large capacity which allows (ent) a more compact and more economical installation thanks among others to the simplification of alumina handling. The larger section of the or each reactor makes it less prone to abrasion. The addition of a ceramic protection for hazardous areas further enhances the behavior over time of the or each reactor. • One or two common reactor (s) which offers the advantage of not being subjected to flow fluctuations caused by the shutdown of a reactor for maintenance or by the different permeability of the fabric of a module filtration compared to others. • Simplified injection of fresh alumina, without a distribution box, with a single airslide, eliminating complicated redundancies in a typical multiple-reactor installation. • Reduced CTF maintenance by eliminating multiple equipment. The invention consists, apart from the arrangements described above, in a certain number of other arrangements which will be more explicitly discussed hereinafter with regard to exemplary embodiments described with reference to the appended drawings, but which are not in no way limiting. In these drawings: FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a CTF (1) according to a first embodiment of the invention comprising a single reactor, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a CTF (1) according to a second exemplary embodiment. of the invention comprising two successive reactors, or in series.

Referring to the scheme of FIG. 1, schematically shown, an oven 30 for cooking carbon blocks. The fumes are extracted from the furnace and fed to a cooling unit 2 by means of the sheath 3. The unit 2 may, for example, be a cooling tower in which the flue gases are cooled by spraying with water. The cooled fumes are taken downstream of the unit 2 and are conducted to the reactor 4 by means of the connecting sheath 5. In our embodiment, this reactor is a "dry scrubber" (dry absorber-neutralizer), but it could be another type of reactor. At the base of the reactor 4, an adsorbent is injected, for example alumina. Commonly, the adsorbent used is partly new and partly recycled. Thus, the new adsorbent 17 stored in the silo 18 is fed through the circuit 8 to the reactor 4 and the recycled adsorbent 19 is fed to the reactor via the circuit 20. During its flow in the reactor 4 in contact with the flue gases. purify, the adsorbent captures pollutants and dust. The fumes and the pollutant-laden adsorbent then pass through an assembly 7 comprising a plurality of filtration units 9 connected in parallel to effect the separation between the adsorbent charged with polluting elements, the dust and the purified fumes. In this embodiment, we have three filtration units 9 equipped with bag filters. The filtration units 9 are provided with isolation means 10, 11 for isolating and cleaning each unit 9 in turn without interrupting the operation of the installation. The adsorbent recovered in the filters is channeled by a device 21 to an intermediate storage 22. Part of this adsorbent is reinjected into the reactor 4 by means of the circuit 20 and another part discharged to a temporary storage silo 12 by means of a circuit 23 may comprise an intermediate silo 24 and a pump 25. The proportion of adsorbent recycled in the reactor 4 relative to that evacuated is adjusted so as to make the best use of the capacity of capture of the adsorbent. The purified fumes are then conducted by the sheath 13 until the suction of one or more draw fans 14. A regulating member 15 placed upstream of each draft fan 14, possibly combined with a control of the speed of rotation of the motor of the draft fan 14, regulates the flow of fumes treated in the treatment center and the vacuum level in the furnace 30. At the discharge of the draft fan 14, the purified fumes are sent to a chimney 16.

Referring to the scheme of FIG. 2, a second variant embodiment of the invention comprising two successive reactors 4 and 25 can be seen schematically. As in the previous example, the fumes are extracted from the furnace 30 and supplied to a cooling unit 2 by means of the sheath 3. The cooled fumes are taken up in the lower part of unit 2 and are led to the first reactor 4, for example a "dry scrubber" by means of the connecting sheath 5. At the base of reactor 4, injection is carried out a first adsorbent 8 for capturing at least one type of pollutants. This first adsorbent 8 may, for example, be alumina 17 intended to capture the HF and stored in the silo 18. The fumes and the adsorbent charged with pollutants then pass in parallel with the units 9 of a set 7 of filtration units 9 for effecting the separation between the adsorbent loaded with polluting elements and the partly purified fumes and for capturing the dust present in the fumes at the outlet of the oven to be fired. In this embodiment, we have three filtration units 9 connected in parallel equipped with several compartments of bag filters. The filtration units 9 are equipped with isolation means 10, 11 (such as valves) for isolating and cleaning each unit 9 in turn without interrupting the operation of the installation. The partially purified fumes are then conducted by the sheath 26 to the second reactor 25, for example a "dry scrubber", an RTO (device for oxidation and elimination of organic pollutants by regenerative thermal oxidation of pollutants), or another type of scrubber to refine the flue gas treatment. At the bottom of the second reactor 25, another type of adsorbent 27 is injected for capturing the pollutants not captured in the first reactor 4. This other adsorbent 27 is stored in another silo 32 and fed to the second reactor 25 by means of This new adsorbent 27 may, for example, be activated charcoal, coke, calcium carbonate or hydrated lime for capturing the sulfur oxides. By means of a circuit 31, the fumes and the new adsorbent 27 loaded with pollutants then pass in parallel with the capture devices 28, for example filtering units similar to those placed downstream of the reactor 4 or cyclones, mounted in parallel to perform the separation between the new adsorbent loaded with polluting elements and the purified fumes. The capture devices 28 are also equipped with isolation means 29, 30, such as valves for isolating and cleaning each device 28 in turn without interrupting the operation of the installation. Again, although not shown in this figure, the new adsorbent 27 recovered in the filters of the devices 28 can be partly reinjected into the second reactor 25 and partly discharged to a silo, and the proportion of adsorbent recycled in the second The reactor 25 and that evacuated is adjusted so as to make the best use of the capture capacity of the new adsorbent. The purified fumes are then conducted by the sheath 34 until the suction of one or more draw fans 14. A regulating member 15, placed upstream of each draft fan 14, possibly combined with a speed control rotation of the fan motor 14, regulates the flow rate of fumes treated in the treatment center and the vacuum level in the oven 30. At the discharge of the fan (s) 14 draw, the clean fumes are sent to a fireplace 16.

Claims (3)

1. smoke treatment center (1) from a furnace (30) to cook anodes used in electrolysis cells for the production of aluminum, in which pollutants are removed from the fumes by capturing them on at least one adsorbent (17, 19, 27) which is then retained by filtration, characterized in that all the fumes pass through at least one reactor (4, 25) in which at least one adsorbent (17, 19) is injected. 27) followed by a set (7) of identical filtration units (9,28) traversed in parallel by the flue gases to capture adsorbent charged with polluting elements and in that the filtration units (9,28) ) can be isolated for their maintenance. î. Flue gas treatment plant according to claim 1, characterized in that an adsorbent (17, 19, 27) is alumina. 5. flue gas treatment center according to claim 1, characterized in that an adsorbent (17, 19, 27) is activated carbon or coke. I. flue gas treatment center according to claim 1, characterized in that an adsorbent (17, 19, 27) is CaCO3. >. Flue gas treatment plant according to claim 1, characterized in that an adsorbent (17, 19, 27) is hydrated lime. 5. flue gas treatment center according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that at the outlet of a first reactor (4), all the flue gas passes through filtration units (9) identical placed in parallel for the capture of the adsorbent (17, 19), injected into said first reactor, then a second reactor (25), and finally identical capture devices (28) placed in parallel for the capture of the adsorbent (27). ) injected into the second reactor (25) and in that the filtration units (28) can be isolated for their maintenance. . Flue gas treatment plant according to claim 6, characterized in that the adsorbent used in the second reactor (25) is a liquid, a solid or a gas. . Flue gas treatment plant according to one of Claims 6 and 7, characterized in that the adsorbent (17, 19) used in the first reactor (4) is alumina, and that the adsorbent ( 27) used in the second reactor (25) is activated charcoal, coke, CaCO 3 or hydrated lime. . Smoke treatment plant according to one of Claims 1 to 8, characterized in that each filter unit (9) consists of multi-compartment bag filters.